What is MiniDisc?
So what of the MiniDisc format? Well, in the Asia-Pacific region it’s doing pretty well. In its native Japan MD always had a head start because of the unpopularity of pre-recorded music cassettes (MC). In the late eighties when MC was consistently outselling both CD and vinyl in the UK, they were nowhere to be seen in Japan–CD was all-powerful and vinyl but a fading memory. This means there was a gap for a cheaper, smaller and more user- friendly format than the CD and technologically more advanced than the cassette–MiniDisk in other words. Having learn lessons from their pre-recorded DAT fiasco (Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Beauty” album was the only music DAT I ever saw in Tokyo), Sony decided to target MD more accurately at the high spending, gadget-loving Japanese youth market. Lots of pre- recorded software was made available and the machines were more visible in record shops, department stores, and shopping malls than they were in electronics outlets. Blanks were cheap and on sale in
